Dan Chapa

Romans 9:1-6 Romans 9:7-9 Romans 9:10-13 Romans 9:14-18 Romans 9:19-23 Romans 9:24-33 Connection between 9, 10 and 11 Romans 10 Romans 11:1-6 Romans 11:7-12 Romans 11:13-15 Romans 11:16-24 Romans 11:25-33 Romans 9-11 Conclusion

I recently listened to a lecture by Ronald Nash where he recounts a conversation he had with J.I. Packer. They are both Calvinsts. Nash brings up the subject of Middle Knowledge. Packer says it's Arminian. Nash says, no, this could be used by Reformers to maintain God's total sovereign control and still preserve responsibility. Packer says you may have a point there. Here's a link to the clip. ( link ) The conversation is about 11 minutes in. That got me wondering if Calvinists wish for a bett er explanation of responsibility. Our moral instincts are kinda like animal instincts. They can erode over time; especially for those who experience the opposite from a young age. Thus pigeons may overcome their natural fear of man. (No offence intended by the analogy, I think of Calvinists like Nash and Packer as brilliant rather than birdbrains.) I doubt mature Calvinists feel a pull of their moral intuitions against their doctrine, but I bet more recent Calvinists still do. Still, ...

Conclusion So in conclusion, Paul is teaching how the doctrine of justification by faith is impacting both Jews and Gentiles. He reconciles justification by faith and the rejection of the Jews who do not believe with the promises God gave Israel. Israel is chosen and blessed, but with national blessings. The spiritual Israel consists of believers in Christ. Both of these truths are taught through God’s choice of the patriarchs. And both illustrate how God’s promises did not fail, even though unbelieving Israelites are rejected.

25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Greeks at the time had religions which restricted membership and did not disclose their “mysteries” till you got inside. Paul uses that concept here and other places to demonstrate to the Gentiles that God had a plan that He is now fulfilling. The Israelites didn’t know ahead of time that salvation would apply to Gentiles. Now everyone was realizing that the Gentiles could be saved. The fullness of the Gentiles refers to the spread of the Gospel thought out the world. The partial hardening implies that not all Jews are hardened, but there is a remnant left. The “until” hints that the end of the hardening is upcoming. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 for this is my co...

16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. “Firstfruit” refers to the Israel’s practice of offering the first and best of a crop to God. Through that offering the entire crop was sanctified unto God. “Firstfruit” and “root” are Abraham and the “lump” and “branches” are all the Jews. Holiness is the natural state for Jews, given their origins in Abraham. Jews are special to God, so their conversion back to God will be even more special than the Gentiles conversion. Their being formed out of the lump into vessels of wrath is unnatural. 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. The Jews are the branches broken off from the root, which is Abraham and the promise God made to Abraham. They are no longer...

13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 14 if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. 15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? There is a minor textual variant at the beginning of verse 13. The Textus Receptus has “gar” (for) and the Westcott and Hort has “de” (but). Gar carries the sense of additional rational for what was just discussed. De can be either continuative or disjunctive. If it’s continuative, the sense is basically the same as gar. If it’s disjunctive it typically enters a new, but related topic. Gar is witnessed in the Byzantine majority text as well as the Bezae Cantabrigiensis (approximately 500 AD) as well as the Vulgate and Cyrillic translations. So, since it has both a majority as well as ancient witness, and it fits the rest of the passage, a compelling case can be ...

7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded This passage heralds back to 9:30-32: 30What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. Israel sought righteousness through the Law, but did not obtain righteousness. Rather, God’s choice imputes righteousness to believers. Paul introduces the concept of “the rest”. God’s election creates a group that excludes the rest. 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: 10 Let ...